Murder Maiden and the Fatal Final

by Mizuki Mizushiro

  After conversing with Kurumiya up on the platform, the misshapen centaur straightened herself out.

  Behind Kyousuke, the same girl from before jumped and clung to the girl in front of her. “Ehh?! It l-llll-looked over heeere!!”

  As for the horse person in question, taking no notice of the disturbance, she turned her face—

  To stare only at Kyousuke.

  “…Eh?”

  Suddenly, Kyousuke had the most uncomfortable feeling. There was something nostalgic about this mysterious transfer student. He could feel it.

  “Pleased to meet you everyone, and good morning. The reason why I asked to enter this school is because there’s someone here I wanted to see no matter what! Even if I had to trade my life for it, I wanted to meet him, the most important person in the world to me… In order to follow after him, I got my hands on a gun! When I wasn’t able to kill even one person, I felt so terrible, I just didn’t know what to do… But I’m so glad I could get into this school, anyway.”

  “…Hey.”

  The effect of the helium gas must have been starting to fade—her regular voice was audible here and there behind the shrill facade. It was a voice he absolutely should not have been able to hear—

  “Hey-hey-hey-hey!”

  His voice trembled so much that even he found it pathetic. Shaking his head furiously, Kyousuke rejected the image that crossed his mind.

  “…That’s impossible.” It was impossible for her to come to a place like this. No matter how much the voice resembled hers, or the physique resembled hers, or the presence resembled hers—there was no way such a mistake could happen…

  “Yes, I’m happy…super happy! Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happyhappyhappyhappy, so happy I might go crazy! Ah-ha…ah-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Since the moment we were suddenly torn apart, the one thing that I’ve wished for, day after day, has finally come true! Tee-hee!”

  As the false voice gradually fell away, Kyousuke’s hopes crumbled. The premonition that had sprouted in his heart was already turning into a certainty. Overflowing with emotions that were impossible to process, his train of thought soon froze. It was as if the world was in a white haze.

  While Kyousuke was being swallowed up by his despair, the transfer student brought her hands to the bottom of her neck.

  Wait, please.

  He wanted to scream, but his lips would not move.

  “Ah, finally…”

  His thoughts did not reach her, and the transfer student did not stop. She removed the horse head mask and cast it aside as though it were a great nuisance.

  “I’m finally able to see you, big brother!”

  The transfer student exposed her face.

  Ayaka Kamiya wore a smile like a flower in bloom.

  All Hope Is Gone?

  CORE CRISIS

  QUESTION ONE

  “—And that’s how it is! I’m Ayaka Kamiya, Kyousuke Kamiya’s little sister. I’m thirteen years old, two years younger than my big brother. I’ve killed zero people, but it wasn’t my fault, it was the gun’s, so please don’t judge me for it! By the way, the horse mask and helium gas just now were Ms. Kurumiya’s idea! It wasn’t my choice.” With a cheerful expression, Ayaka completed her self-introduction.

  “……This…can’t be real!”

  He felt like this was all a bad dream.

  He couldn’t accept the sight of his sister in this classroom.

  —He wouldn’t accept it.

  But Ayaka just smiled at Kyousuke, even as he was overcome with shock.

  “It’s real, all right!”

  She wielded the truth of the situation like a knife. “I’m the genuine article, the real Ayaka! You probably can’t believe it, but I was very brave and came to see you! Hee-hee-hee! Aren’t you happy? I bet you’re happy. You must be happy! I’m super happy! I’m happy that I’m able to see you again, big brother! But, well…you look more rundown than the last time I saw you. Are you okay? Are you that lonesome, unable to see me?”

  Kyousuke said nothing, unable to form a response.

  “…Huh? Hey, hey, big brother. Why are you staying so quiet?”

  “”

  “Hey! Why are you ignoring me?! Even though I worked so hard to be reunited with you—”

  “Now, now. Calm down, Miss Kamiya. You can’t hurry him along like that. The surprise was clearly too much for him. You should have a little sympathy.”

  Luckily, Kurumiya’s words seemed to pacify the hysterical girl.

  “Oh, that’s right! He’s just sooo happy to see me that he’s at a total loss for words, right? Tee-hee! That’s my hopeless big brother… I love that about him, though!”

  Clapping her hands together, Ayaka gave a broad smile, as if she were embarrassed. Her tone was cheerful, not the least bit different from the girl Kyousuke knew.

  This isn’t right.

  If this was an ordinary classroom, he would understand. However, this was a classroom at Purgatorium Remedial Academy. His classmates were all murderers, and it was an extremely dangerous place. Kyousuke couldn’t wrap his head around his littler sister’s unwavering nerves in the face of these facts.

  She should at least be afraid…

  Kyousuke was surprised that he could think such things about his little sister…

  Biiiiiing, boooooong,

  baaaaaang, boooooong…

  The hoarse chime rang, marking the passage of time.

  “Do you have a boyfriend?” “I do not.” “What type of boys do you like?” “My big brother.” “What’s your favorite food?” “Big broth—er, sweet things.” “What are your hobbies?” “Making food for my main man.” “What are your best dishes?” “Things that he likes. Like meat and potato stew, chop suey, and rolled cabbage.” “What’s your secret ingredient?” “Love (if you know what I mean).” Et cetera.

  Kurumiya closed the question-and-answer session. “…Okay, that’s it! I’d say you’ve been sufficiently introduced.” Checking the time on her wristwatch, she erased the name “Ayaka Kamiya” from where it was written on the blackboard. “We’re late getting started, but let’s get to class now. You have exams the week after next, remember? You hurry up and take your seat, too, Miss Kamiya.”

  “Yes, ma’am!” Replying energetically, Ayaka stepped down from the podium. Walking with a nimble gait, she headed for the desk to the right of Kyousuke’s. Its owner had been disciplined, and the seat was empty in his absence.

  As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Ayaka slid into the desk with an impish grin. “Eee-hee-hee! I scored a seat next to big brother!”

  “Hmm.” Kurumiya nodded in satisfaction. “That will be your seat from today on, Miss Kamiya. But you may only push the desks together for the first day! Once your textbooks arrive, you’ll go back to your regular spot and take class from there.”

  “Okaaay!”

  “Don’t stretch out your replies.”

  “Okay, I’m sorry!”

  “Great.”

  “…Tee-hee-hee. She’s strict.” Ayaka stuck out her tongue. Her expression the whole time had been an unwavering smile.

  Could it be that Ayaka Kamiya felt no threat either from her murderous classmates or her sadistic, violent teacher?

  In this strange, twisted place, seated beside her brother, Kyousuke, the girl seemed completely and perfectly happy.

  A chime rang out to mark the end of first period.

  Before interested classmates could approach Ayaka—

  “…Come here.”

  “Hyah?!”

  —Kyousuke took her hand and forcibly led her out of the classroom. Crossing in front of Kurumiya, who was putting away her teaching materials, they drew everyone’s gaze as they left the room, fully focused on heading for the hallway.

  “Big brother, it’s too fast—I’m telling you, it hurts! My hand hurts!”

  Kyousuke ignored Ayaka’s complaints.

  “Goodn
ess me, writing tests is such a pain. Even with help from my friends—”

  “Out of the way, please.”

  “Whaa—?!”

  Shoving aside the unappealing middle-aged man in a suit who had emerged from the neighboring first-year Class B room, Kyousuke marched them quickly up to the rooftop of the old school building. There, he finally stopped and turned to face his sister.

  Rubbing the hand that had been held in his grip, she grumbled, “Big brother, geez, you’re so rough… I thought my wrist was gonna be torn off!”

  Kyousuke stared intensely at her. Ayaka tilted her head and blinked her eyes. “Your expression is kind of stiff. What’s wrong? Are you tired?”

  “”

  Ayaka tilted her head the other way. “Huh…? Big brother? Why are you staying quiet? You’ve been this way the whole time! In class, you didn’t respond even when I spoke to you! I don’t get it!”

  “…I bet.”

  “Eh? What did you say? You’re too quiet, I can’t hear—”

  “I said, I bet you’re the one who doesn’t get what’s going on!”

  “……?!” Ayaka cowered. “Th-that’s too loud…” she protested, covering her ears.

  Taking one step toward his sister, who seemed oblivious to the truth of their situation, Kyousuke let it all out. The feelings that he had held inside the whole time during class, his jumbled emotions, the words that he had patiently swallowed—unable to help himself, he released them all.

  “To come to a school like this…? Barging into a classroom with a shotgun? Shooting students? What have you done…? What the hell were you trying to do?! Do you understand what you did? How can you act so relaxed if you understand?! You tried to…to become a murderer! How can you still smile—?”

  “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

  Crying in a voice loud enough to drown out her brother’s angry roars, Ayaka quickly clung to him.

  “But, but…I was lonely! Super, super loooneleeey! One day my big brother suddenly disappeared, leaving me all alone… I thought I would die, I was soooooo loooneleeey! Lonely and sad and bitter and hurt, with no idea at all what I should do, and every day, every day, every day every day every day every day every day every day every day every day everydayeverydayeverydayeverydayeverydayeverydayeveryday I worried about yoooooooooooooooooooouuu! What could I do to get my big brother back? What could I do to see my big brother again? What could I do…? I could go to the same place as my big brother! I worried and worried and worried and worried, and thought and thought and thought and thought, and searched and searched and searched and searched, and then I realized! If I did the same thing as you, I could go to the same place as you, right…? If I also committed mass murder, I would be taken to the same place as my big brother, wouldn’t I? That’s what I realiiiiiiiiiiiized! Because I was lonely…so lonely I could diiiiiiiiieee! I wanted to see you, no matter what I had to do…oooooooooooohhh!”

  Rubbing her face against Kyousuke’s chest, Ayaka ranted and raved. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed with surprising strength, crushing the breath out of him. “When the gun didn’t fire, it felt like the world was ending… I couldn’t kill even one person, so I thought I wouldn’t be able to go to the same place as my big brother who had killed twelve people. While I was being held down by a lot of people, I tried my best to somehow kill someone even without a weapon, but it was no good… I cried the whole time. Big brother wouldn’t be coming back, I wouldn’t be able to see my big brother again, I wouldn’t be able to go to the same place as big brother… I kept crying for a long, loooooong time. That’s why…that’s why, you see? When I saw your face in that classroom, I was happy. I was super happy! No matter how scary this place is, no matter what kind of dangerous people are around, no matter how difficult an everyday life awaits me, I didn’t care the slightest bit about any of that, I was so happy—”

  “Ayaka…”

  “I am so lucky, you see! My big brother is here! Here by my side, close enough to touch…together with me. And that’s enough. Oh, I wanted to see you… I’ve wanted to see you for so, so long, big brother.” Closing her eyes, Ayaka embraced him. Her body had become completely emaciated. Her arms and legs had been thin before, but now they were like thin sticks of wood, looking like they might shatter into pieces at the slightest touch.

  What had transformed her into this state?

  —It could have been nothing other than Kyousuke.

  The pain of losing her brother had tormented the girl, had run her down, had gnawed away at her…until finally, the strain had caused her to go so far as to try her hand at murder.

  The origin of her crime lay in Kyousuke, but despite that, he had shouted at her without giving her a chance to explain. He’d blamed her for her actions without considering the cause. He wanted to punch his earlier self.

  “……I’m sorry.” Apologetically, Kyousuke hugged his sister back. He squeezed gently so as not to break her skinny body.

  “Big brother?” she asked in confusion.

  “I’m sorry, Ayaka… I’m truly sorry for making you feel that way. Even if I apologize, it doesn’t mean you can forgive me, I get that. But still, I want to apologize to you… I’ve wanted to apologize for a long time. Ever since the day I was arrested, this whole time…I’ve wanted to see you, and to apologize. I didn’t imagine that you would come to see me, so I was surprised, but…now I’ve finally calmed down. I’ve also wanted to see you, just as much as you’ve wanted to see me. For a long, long time, I’ve wanted to see you.”

  “Big brother…” Ayaka lowered her voice in response to Kyousuke’s heartfelt outpouring.

  Gradually, a feeling of happiness spread through Kyousuke’s chest, accompanied by the warmth of her body heat, a concrete reminder of the presence of his irreplaceable family member. “Thank goodness you didn’t become a murderer…”

  If by any chance the gun had fired… If Ayaka had killed people… Kyousuke didn’t know how he would have felt. He was just glad that the shotgun had malfunctioned, and that Ayaka had not killed, or even injured, anybody. Kyousuke’s sense of reason was still held together by that tiny shred of good news. Even so, the fact that Ayaka had even attempted to commit murder was more than enough of a shock.

  Releasing his embrace, Kyousuke asked nervously, “Hey, Ayaka—don’t do that kind of thing again, okay?”

  “Sure!” She nodded reassuringly. “I won’t. I don’t have any reason to! After all, I never really wanted to do something so terrible… If it doesn’t bring me closer to you, I don’t want to kill anyone. I’m no murderer. Killing is scary, and I really hate it!”

  “……I see.”

  Relieved, Kyousuke felt the tension melt from his shoulders. If that was true, then it was probably fine. What he should be doing now was not criticizing her, but soothing his emaciated little sister’s heart.

  Kyousuke faced Ayaka to tell her that himself. “…Of course. It’s not like you would murder because you liked it.”

  “Tee-hee, of course not! I don’t even want to get close to anyone so scary—ah!! But, you’re different, big brother! Even if you are the Warehouse Butcher, who killed twelve people, I could never hate you! I’m not even scared of you! Instead, I will happily surrender my life to you.” Clenching her fists, Ayaka thus tried her best to reassure him.

  Kyosuke grinned at his little sister, who was always thinking of her big brother, no matter the circumstances. “Oh, thank you. I thought for sure you would want nothing to do with me if I had taken a dozen lives, but that was a pointless concern, wasn’t it? That’s my little sister! Gratefully allowing me to snatch away her life—nooooo, wait a minute! I haven’t even killed one person!”

  Suddenly leaning over her, Kyousuke frantically protested his innocence.

  The fact that killing twelve people had been a false charge; the fact that, ba
sed on that false charge, he was in a deeply unpleasant situation; the fact that while at the academy he was pretending to be a murderer… Kyousuke quickly explained the whole situation to his sister.

  However, he remained silent about this academy’s true character. He thought that if he threw too much at her at once, it would only confuse her.

  As she finished listening to Kyousuke’s story, Ayaka replied, “In other words…you and I are the only two students at this school who haven’t killed anyone, is that right? I’m so happy that we’re a match, big brother! Tee-hee-hee!” She smiled broadly and embraced him again.

  “Whoa!” Kyousuke was taken aback. “Geez, you… Is that the first thing you have to say? I’m happy, too, so it’s fine, but…”

  The figure of a certain classmate crossed Kyousuke’s astonished mind. A rust-red ponytail and eyes the same color—a female student who Kyousuke knew also had a zero-kill count.

  There weren’t two of them, but three…

  I don’t have the right to reveal her secrets, do I?

  Kyousuke decided to hold his tongue.

  Ayaka’s shoulders were trembling as she buried her face in Kyousuke’s chest. She sniffed and sniffed, then let slip in a low voice:

  “……You smell like a strange girl.”

  She was mumbling, and he couldn’t hear her well.

  “What did you say I smell like? Sorry if I stink like sweat… Every morning here we have something called correctional duty, you see. For nearly four hours we do physical labor. I changed out of my jersey, but surely that’s…wh-what you’re smelling, huh?”

  “Ah, never mind! Ayaka was talking to herself just then, so don’t pay any attention, please! Ayaka won’t pay it any attention, either. Right, I won’t worry about it, so…don’t worry, yeah…”

  “…Ayaka?” She had started mumbling about something, but she’d also said “please don’t worry about it,” so he wasn’t going to. Right now, there was something more important to confirm first. “By the way, how did you manage to get ahold of something like a gun—”